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Bow down thine ear, O Lord, Z11

Introduction

This remarkable setting is the fourth anthem contained in Purcell’s autograph manuscript now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, suggesting it is an early work, copied certainly by 1681 or 1682 and possibly written earlier. The main body is set for four soloists: the chorus appear in two short sections. The right hand of the organ accompaniment for the opening four bars is, unusually, written out: taken up in turn by each of the voices as they enter, the opening looks back in construction to the anthems of the period of Orlando Gibbons. The marvellous harmony, however, is unmistakably that of Purcell and his era, especially in the angular lines of ‘for I am poor and in misery’. The tenor solo ‘Be merciful unto me, O Lord’ is Italianate in its declamatory style: when the four voices appealingly return at ‘For thou, Lord, art good and gracious’ the harmony is enriched with the bass vocal line running independently from the continuo. After a short chorus, Italianate writing returns with a passage of semi-recitative for the solo bass, leading into a section of contrapuntal ingenuity and extraordinary harmony, ‘Teach me thy way, O Lord’. Purcell illustrates ‘O knit my heart unto thee’ by grouping all four voices in close proximity. The final section ‘And I will thank thee, O Lord’ is set in a lilting triple metre, and repeated by the full choir.

'It is hard to speak too highly of this enterprise … much enjoyment to be had' (Gramophone)'the performances from The King’s Consort and its Choir, the Choir of New College and a starry line-up of soloists have such qualities of concentratio ...» More

Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and in misery. Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I will call daily upon thee. Comfort the soul of thy servant, for unto thee do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good and gracious, and of great mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Among the gods there is none like unto thee; there is not one that can do as thou doest. For thou art great and dost wond’rous things; thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in thy truth: O knit my heart unto thee, that I may fear thy name. And I will thank thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, and will praise thy name for evermore.